Portland – Page 3 – Naturally Lindsay

Holiday Gift Guide 2015 | PDX Edition

December 2, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 12 Comments

When it comes to holiday shopping we are pretty minimalist with our gift giving. We like to focus on gifting things that are of high quality, locally purchased and fit one of our categories: wear, want, read, create plus stockings (you can read more about that here). We have recently started doing a bit of holiday shopping and here are a few things that I have picked up from various shops around Portland. A few items for us an a few gifts to give to family and friends.

1. Fermenting Weight ($10) from Portland Homestead Supply. If you are around Neil or I long enough we are bound to bring up Portland Homestead Supply. It is one our favorite shops in Portland and is filled with all sorts of things for DIYing at home from making soaps, lip balm, and candles to fermenting and preserving. Plus if you have little ones there are a few cute goats and chickens out back that you can visit; a weekly occurrence for our family. As for this item Neil actually purchased it for himself. This fermenting weight is perfect for anyone who is looking to get into fermenting. Pair it with a nice wide mouth jar, a lid and air lock and you have the perfect gift.

2. Molly Muriel Lip Balm ($4), find at the Molly Muriel store front in Milwaukie, OR or at various shops around Portland. This lip balm is fantastic and it is made locally here in Portland. It would make the perfect stocking stuffer for anyone on your list. Molly Muriel also has a variety of other skincare products and some pretty amazing smelling candles.

3. Folding Ruler ($10) found at Schoolhouse Electric. So I’ll be honest this is the most exiting item you can find at Schoolhouse Electric but I still love it and think it makes a really great gift. Schoolhouse Electric is a beautiful shop and is filled with something for everyone. You won’t have a hard time finding something there. Personally I wish I just lived there.

4. Portland Bridge Magnets ($10) from April Black. We came across April Black at the Portland Night Market and just fell in love with her art work. We ended up picking up two sets of magnets and some cards to gift this Christmas. I’m wishing we had picked up a few things for ourselves as well but alas we didn’t so I’ll have to make an order sometime soon to get a few of her beautiful prints.

5. I love Books Pin ($3-5) found at Tilde. I can’t remember who this pin is by but it was one of the things I picked up on a recent Tilde trip. Tilde is another one of my favorite shops in Portland. It is filled with beautiful locally made jewelry, beautiful candles, skincare, greeting cards, bags including Matt & Nat for my fellow vegans and so much more. We love to pick up gifts here.

6. Soy Wax Candle ($15) from Wooly Beast Designs. I have known about Wooly Beast Designs for awhile because the owner was in a family meetup group I had a few years ago but it wasn’t until the Portland Night Market that I actually smelled any of her candles. Neil and I fell in love with The Bearded Man sent and we have been burning it for the last week. I am disappointed that I didn’t get in a Black Friday order to get a few more candles but I am still planning to pick up a few for friends and for myself.

7. Seely Mint Patties ($8) found at Whole Foods. The Seely mint farm is located along the Columbia River on the way to Astoria. The Seely’s us mint oil they distill from their 450-acre mint farm to make these delicious patties. The patties are also gluten free and vegan so they would be perfect for most anyone on your holiday list. I think they would make a perfect stocking stuffer.

As you can see there of great shops and products here in Portland. What are some of your favorite local Portland shops and/or products? Any local products that I should add to my gift giving list?

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored in anyway. I purchased all of the items with my own money with the exception of the box of Seely mints that was sent to me to sample.

Travel Oregon | Oregon Cider Tour with Buick

November 21, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

A few Saturdays ago I was lucky enough to jump in a Buick and head to Hood River to sample a variety of ciders, learn about the history behind cider and connect with new people. I was picked up in a Buick Enclave which is a beautiful, super comfy SUV. It was stocked with bottles of water and my favorite KIND bars.

My driver picked up another participant and then we headed to the meet up and pick which car we would drive out to our first destination, The Gorge White House.

Kristi and I took the Buick Regal. Kristi safely got us to Cascade Locks and then we switched drivers and I took us to The Gorge White House our first of four stops on our cider tour.

Of the four places that we visited The Gorge White House was the only one that I had been to before. We have friends who love it and we stopped in with them back in September after apple picking in the Gorge. I had sampled most of the ciders before and once again the apple was my favorite of the five ciders we tried. It was crisp and not too sweet; it almost reminded me of a dry white wine.

One thing I love about doing a tour with other bloggers is that photographing you food or beverage isn’t strange. Neither is requesting just the right style of pour for the perfect shot.

Before leaving The Gorge White House they fed us some really delicious food. I got this great curry that was just so perfectly seasoned and I could have eaten two bowls of it.

Just up the road from The Gorge White House was our second stop, Fox Tail Cider. Fox Tail was quite a bit different than our first stop with ciders made with peach and ginger. My favorite of the five we sampled was the last, the Fox Tail’s Docklands.

Once we finished up at Fox Tail Cider we piled into the passenger seats of our Buick of choice, I went in the Encore, and we made the trek back to Portland for our third stop. I spent most of the ride taking advantage of the wi-fi hotspot in our car and checked in on emails, instagram and lots of chatting with the hubby. We made it to Portland Cider House and they had four of their ciders to sample along with one from Cider Riot. I have to say that these five ciders were my favorite of the day. I especially loved the Hop’rageous from Portland Cider, probably because I am a beer lover. Along with these five samples I tasted a few of the 23 other cider options that Portland Cider had on tap. Yes, 28 total ciders on tap at one time!

I was sad to leave Portland Cider but I’ll be back to try more ciders, play a few games from their huge stack and get out with my cider loving friend. Next up we headed back to the Buicks, this time the LaCrosse, and we made our way to Bushwhacker Cider for dinner and our last cider.
At Bushwhacker we could or a cider of our choice so Kristi and I decided that we liked the idea of samples and we went for their geek 6-cider sample tray. I have to admit at this time all the cider samples were blending together and I was a bit cider’d out but they were still fun to try. For dinner I had an amazing farro risotto and we ended with some vegan chocolate.

It was a pretty amazing but long day and I was happy we ended early because I missed my babies so much. It was a great day and I have to give a big thanks to Buick for inviting me to participate in this amazing cider tour. I enjoyed sampling all the ciders and learning a bit more about them and of course getting to socialize with a number of really interesting people.

So tell me are you a cider drinker? I can’t say that I have turned into a cider drinker but I definitely have a better appreciation for cider after this tour. I didn’t realize just how many different types of ciders there are from super sweet, to dry and crisp to crazy flavors such as chai, mojito and passionfruit.

*Participants only drove out to our first stop, The Gorge White House, our drivers took over after that and drove us to all of our other destinations and home.

PDX Sites & Eats | Brunch at Harvest at The Bindery

November 18, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 6 Comments

We have wanted to go to Harvest at The Bindery since it opened at the beginning of this year. But, with our lack of date nights, we just hadn’t been able to make it there for a date night dinner. I am not sure how long they have been doing brunch but we stumbled upon it by chance on Saturday. We were out and about Saturday late morning and decided that we should go out for brunch. After perusing Yelp, we saw that Harvest at The Bindery had brunch and Neil and I both squealed a little. Finally we were going to have our chance to give it a try without having to worry about getting a sitter.

We checked out the brunch menu and instantly wanted to order almost everything on the menu. If I could have justified the cost and had three or four stomachs I just might have. But, nevertheless, we only ordered a few things and they were all delicious.

We started off with the biscuit and jam. The biscuit, while a bit dense, was really tasty and the jam was housemade and delicious. Neil and I snagged a few bites but the kids devoured most of it.

Neil and I also shared one of their spicy dilly bloody marys and it was easily the best bloody mary I have had in Portland. We followed this one up with the spicy smoky one to share as well and while it was good the dilly was so flavorful and refreshing and the pickled veggies were amazing.

For one of our mains we shared the hazelnut french toast and it was incredible. There is something about french toast that is made with baguette that I just love. The chocolate hazelnut spread tasted better than nutella and that coconut cream on top was amazing.

On the flip side we also chose one of the savory options, the benedict. For me the true test with a benedict is how good the hollandaise sauce is and in this case it did not disappoint. I was sold just based on that. The kale and the housemade seitan were fantastic. The only thing I didn’t love about the benedict was the butternut squash. I felt like it didn’t add a lot of flavor to the dish and roasted mushrooms or a slice of tomato would have been a better addition.

I didn’t get a photo but we also had one of the herbs hasbrown casserole but compared to everything else it fell flat. It was mushy and bit bland. I wish it had been crispy on the outside but it was essentially a mashed potato patty.

Overall we loved Harvest at The Bindery. I would recommend ordering the french toast, the benny and a spicy bloody mary with the dilly mix.

Now we just need to get a sitter so we can go on a dinner date there!

Have you been to Harvest at the Bindery? What did you think? What is your favorite thing to order out for breakfast/brunch?

#WIAW: A Focus On Local Eats

August 12, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

Is it only Wednesday? This week is dragging but at least the food I’ve been munching on has been tasty. I am on week two of my local foods challenge and so far it’s going really well. I’m at about 47% local due to picking up a few treat items the other night but I have no fear that I’ll be back up to 50%+ next week with my organics box delivery which is almost all locally sourced produce.

Now onto the food!

Breakfast: Love Grown Foods Oatmeal with a local juicy peach, Forage cashew milk, Date Lady syrup and cinnamon.

The internet buzz about Love Grown Foods oatmeal won and I picked up a packaged of their oats this week. The verdict? It was so good! I picked up the Super Oats Nuts & Seeds and it is filled with Gluten-free oats, chia seeds, almonds, quinoa flakes, amaranth flakes, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and flaxseed. I topped it with a local juicy peach from our organics box and a few of my other favorite toppings. It was a simply, filling and delicious breakfast.

Lunch: Loaded Baked Potato Fries with Shiitake Mushroom Bacon

I made Neil and I these loaded baked french fry bowls for lunch on Sunday. All of the produce which included potatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, tomato and shiitake mushrooms were all locally sourced. To make the shiitake bacon I sauteed them with coconut aminos and a little (vegan) bacon salt. I also topped our fries with tahini sauce and za’taar.

Snack Time!

My favorite snack right now is Nu Culture “cheese” (based in The Dalles, OR) on stoned wheat crackers and a seltzer. These cheeses are so good! If you follow me on instagram you might remember the bacon chipotle flavor I tried a few weeks ago. This time we tried the garden herbs and it was also super good. It’s creamy, tangy and just a nice treat.

Dessert (why yes I did skip dinner because it was too ugly to share)

Lastly, it’s all about the coconut ice cream. We were in Sellwood (PDX) yesterday for a doctors appointment and dinner. We came across a new ice cream cart at the Sellwood food cart pod and not only did it have sorbet but they also had coconut “ice cream”. We sampled each flavor and decided to share the coconut and strawberry coconut between the four of us. It was super creamy and flavorful. Edith has declared that she doesn’t want to share again that she needs to have her own of the “white one”. Check it out of you are in Sellwood or honestly head down and make a special trip.

What have you been eating this week? Any fun new food finds or recipes?

Wicked | Portland Broadway

August 10, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 11 Comments

Thursday night I was lucky enough to head downtown to the Keller Auditorium to see Wicked. This is a broadway show that I have had on my bucket list for years and finally I was able to cross it off last week. The show was simply spectacular and I wish that I had time to go see it once more before it leaves Portland (the show is here until 8/23!)

photo credit: Production photos of the national tour of Wicked © Broadway.com

While this show has been on my bucket list I honestly didn’t know much about the actual show beyond the fact that it has to do with the witches from The Wizard of Oz and that everyone I know who has seen it has given it a raving review. Honestly I’m glad I wasn’t familiar with the show because it was wonderful to watch the story unfold for the first time. For those of you who are curious the show tells the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. I won’t give anymore away you’ll have to go see it to find out more.

The acting was incredible, the singing beautiful and the set was incredibly impressive. One thing that surprised me about the show was how funny it was. The show flowed perfectly and it had perfect audience cues as to when it was one should laugh or clap. I actually felt like the show just didn’t feel live because it was just so well done. If I wasn’t sitting there watching it myself I would have thought I was watching a movie. Simply amazing.

I am so happy to cross this off my bucket list but I have actually added it again but this time to go as a family once the littles are big enough to sit through a long show. So glad my first Portland Broadway experience was such a positive one and I can’t wait to return for another show.

Don’t worry you can still get tickets to this wonderful show and it is here until August 23, 2015.

Disclaimer: I received two complimentary tickets to this show. I was not required to right a review. As always all opinions are my own and I truly loved this show.

Things I’m Looking Forward To | 8.3.15

August 3, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 26 Comments

I find that some weeks I look at our calendar and there is almost nothing going on and then we have a week like this one. I am already stocking up on coffee and snacks because busy weeks while fun always need a little bit of extra fuel. So what am I looking forward to this week?

Wicked! Yes I am finally getting out on a week night with a friend to do something fun. When you have two little ones this is a rare occurrence and I am so excited to get out. I also can cross Wicked off my bucket list. This show has been on it since I found out about it when I lived in Boston and had no money to go see the show when it was literally in a theatre two blocks from my dorm. Fun fact: there will be $25 Wicked tickets prior to each performance!! In short, patrons need to arrive 2.5 hours before the performance to put their name in the barrel and ½ hour later, names are drawn to purchase a pair of tickets (don’t forget your cash!)

New Seasons Slabtown opens this week! Okay so who else loves to visit new grocery stores? There is something about a brand new store with all of it’s organized displays and it’s clean and new and fresh. I just love grocery shopping in general so if you say new store you’ll be I’ll be there for the opening. Oh and I’m getting a sneak peek of the new store tonight so follow me on instagram [@runwithtongs] and snapchat [lindsayingalls] for a sneak peek too!

Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon! I won’t be running this half (this year at least) but I am so excited to head out to wine country and cheer Neil on. This will be Neil’s 5th half marathon and I couldn’t be prouder of him. He used to tell me that he could never be a runner but he obviously has proved himself wrong. So excited for this event!

In edition to these three events we also have three birthday parties and will be spending time with friends before they head back to Germany. I feel like August is just our month with so many great things going on. The one thing I am not looking forward to is packing because packing with two little ones is less than ideal but alas it has to be done some way, some how.

Photo Credit: Oregon Wine Country Half

Celebrate the Summer Solstice 2015 | Portland, OR Edition

June 18, 2015 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

Summer officially starts this Sunday! Whose excited? I know I am, although I feel like summer has already started and that for some reason it already feels like it is flying by. Here are a few ways to get out and celebrate the Summer Solstice; which is at 9:39am on June 21, 2015 for those who live in PDX.

Looking for a fun way to kick of summer? If you are in Portland the Athleta at Brewery Blocks (and I think Althleta’s across the country – check your local store) is hosting a Summer Solstice event on Sunday 6/21 from 9-11am. Join instructor Jasmine Ziska for an invigorating sun salutations class celebrating the beginning of summer. Greenleaf Juicing Company will be in house sampling fresh juices. Since this is a special day for Dads, bring the kiddos and let them have fun at our Father’s day card making station while you take class! We are camping but are planning to stop in to join the fun and have Edith join in the card making.

Once your done celebrating the Summer Solstice at Athleta grab your bike and head across the river to North Portland for the North Sunday Parkways. Enjoy 9.5 miles of care free (except local traffic) bliss as you bike, walk or roller blade around North Portland. Plan to stop for some free ice cream, a concert in the park or a jump in the bouncy castle or maybe a little disc golf or zumba.

If yoga and biking aren’t your thing than just get out and spend some time in nature. You don’t need to live in Portland to do this but if you do why not head to Forest Park and explore the trails? There are so many beautiful trails and it’s the perfect way to celebrate the start of summer. Might I suggest starting at the Audubon Society and heading up the Wildwood Trail to Pittock Mansion for beautiful views and if you time it just right you just might be able to fit in a few sun salutations at 9:39am to ring in the Summer Solstice.

Disclaimer: Athleta provided me with a free top and yoga mat in exchange for sharing their event. I think it’s a great event and was happy to share. All other events are ones I chose to share. I received no compensation for this post.

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